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This morning was a meeting for Edward Jone’s spouses. I was very nervous about leaving them in the provided childcare- they love daycare, but we know daycare well. They adore Katie and Grandma, but they know both well. Those are the only people who have ever taken care of them. But the meeting was only an hour and a half and they were just down the hall. I hyped it this week and we got there early to check it out. They were both fine when I dropped them off and happy when I picked them up. Success.

After the meeting, and what Xander referred to all day as his “class” we went to lunch and then headed to the pool. My boys love a hot tub and were very excited that there were 2! We spent more time in the hot tubs than the actual pool.

After dinner, the boys took a bath in our GIANT bathtub. This bathtub is about half the size of our entire trailer at camp, so it was pretty great. They accidentally turned on the jets and that was terrifying and also the end of the bath, but up to that point, it was all good.

When we arrived back to the cabin after dinner, we were greeted with a surprise gift from EJ. I love a surprise gift bag and so do my boys. Included was a bluetooth speaker, which Xander promptly claimed as his own. We had a mini dance party and he’s pretty excited to have his own speaker.

It was a full day of fun and we’ve got a full day ahead of us tomorrow.

    

It was the last full day of staff training today. I was busy finishing up cabin assignments, health forms and all of the paperwork for the first week. Staff were in the last few sessions of training, practicing songs and games, and busy completing projects around camp. The buildings and grounds look organized, neat and ready for kids!

Xander and Augustus (and Katie!) joined the staff on the field for games and songs.

At lunchtime, Mary told Xander the entire plot to one of the Star Wars movies. He was transfixed. He listened intently, while munching away on his lunch, every now and then asking, “and then what happened?” Mary might never get to eat lunch again if they keep sitting next to each other!

Before lunch, we had an impromptu dance party. 

And then it was rest time.

I was with the staff going through emergency drills in the water. And then it was time for canoe tipping, which is one of my favorite staff training activities. We all go out in canoes and one by one, we tip, and the practice rescues. I will have some ugly bruises from hoisting myself back into the canoe, but overall it was a success. Katie, Liberty, Sienna and the boys watched all of us tip from the safety of a paddleboat. I don’t have any photos, but the boys were super cute and enjoyed being part of all the action on the water.

After dinner, we finally checked the mail and X&A had care packages from Grandma Debbie! They were VERY excited.

Tomorrow is the last full day of training and I have SO MANY THINGS to do! I need to finish all cabin assignments, health paperwork, etc. But instead of jumping into all of that as soon as the boys went to sleep, I hand painted a pair of shoes for Xander.

For Christmas, Xander got Captain America shoes, which he LOVES. I made them by ironing patches onto plain slip on shoes. But he has outgrown them and there are holes in them. He hates all of his other shoes (he has several pairs). So the other day, we called Santa (shout out to my brother for his willingness to ad lib without any preparation).
This time, Xander really wanted Green Lantern shoes. Except that the patches I bought were WAY too big. I happen to have a screen printing kit, with fabric paint, so I decided to just paint them. They aren’t perfect, but hopefully they’ll be acceptable to a 3 year old who will probably destroy them by the end of the summer. We’ll see how he reacts tomorrow.

We put him to work hauling camp store goods.

Tired baby who refuses to nap

At the counselor show, Augustus climbed right on stage like always, but tonight, he improved through the entire skit, sitting down when the counselors sat down, responding to what they were saying, even holding up his hands at one point. He was hilarious. Xander wanted to be on stage, but every time he went up there, he got nervous and ran back to me. He’s going through a little stage-fright phase right now.

The boys also assisted with canoe training. Today the counselors learned how to teach canoeing (tomorrow we will go canoeing and tip/rescue in the lake). Augustus demonstrated what a lifejacket looks like if it doesn’t fit. And then both boys helped with the teaching.

Nate was here Friday-Sunday. He drove up late on Friday straight from the airport. He flew in after spending last week in St. Louis for his final part of Edward Jones training. He has been studying, testing, training and preparing for 6 MONTHS and finally, he’s official! We are very proud of him and we were very happy to have him at camp! The boys were eager to spend time with him and I was very busy with training, so it was a boys’ weekend! They went fishing, played all over camp, ate treats, watched camp staff in training, and hung out.

Nate left late last night.

Katie is doing a duel role as nanny/lead staff this summer. She is confident, a strong leader, and rocking it as a lead staff (and she’s amazing with X&A), so I think it’s a great fit. The majority of the day was super hands on training and I wanted her to be able to lead and contribute to those sessions, so the boys and I spent most of the day together. I got a little bit of actual work done (probably not as much as I should have), but it was nice to just have a day to snuggle, play, dance, dig holes, ride around on the golf cart, climb in the lockers, swing in the sky chairs- a lazy summer day outside, exploring, getting dirty and rarely ever looking at the clock. Days like that are rare and I enjoyed it.

Xander has also become quite the performer! He loves the microphone. He loves the stage. He gets more and more confident every day.

Both boys have ZERO hesitation to go onstage while staff are performing or speaking. I’m not sure how they will react when there are 100 kids sitting there too, but for now, they are quite comfortable on stage.

I was surprised today though- Xander and Augustus were with the staff singing songs and I was finishing something somewhere else. When I got down to the stage, they didn’t see me and I watched Xander on stage, singing and doing the actions to the songs. He was very cute. But as soon as he saw me, he ran off stage and was all of a sudden very shy. I was surprised to see him get embarrassed.

Staff training day 3 and it has been busy! I have pictures and updates, but they will have to wait. But in the meantime, we took our staff pictures today and they are so cute. Both boys were extremely cooperative, even without bribes. They even stood in line to get their individual photo taken and said “cheese” very nicely.

The boys got to spend the whole day with Grandma Debbie since it was the first day of staff training and Katie was part of the day. Today and tomorrow are almost entirely led by me, and so they are my 2 busiest days of the summer. After that, Meghan and the lead staff take over, so it’s not too bad. I missed my boys today though!

We had beautiful cupcakes after dinner and then we had an ice cream social to kick of the training week. So many treats!

Mary put it best when she said, “Xander looks like he has had a full day!” He was covered in dirt, mouth covered in chocolate, face painted and looking happy. I couldn’t ask for more!

 

It’s the last day of pre-camp prep. I spent the day with the rest of the staff (who didn’t go through lifeguard certification), training them in CPR/First Aid.

The lead staff and lifeguard crew worked on projects around camp (camp is looking fabulous and clean and organized and nearly ready for kids!). After CPR, the rest of the staff joined in. Meghan and I met to touch base about staff training and then I was going to work on a few last minute things for training. Except that Grandma Debbie arrived and I decided spending time with her and the boys would be way better (it was!) and so we hung out until dinner. After dinner, Meghan and I met with the staff and then it was bath/bed time for the boys. I have a little more work before I fall into bed. I am super excited for staff training to start tomorrow.

We will spend 8am-9pm, Friday-Friday preparing the staff for everything they need to know- policies, procedures, how to teach activities, how to work with different behaviors, and about a million other things. It is intense and fun and exciting and exhausting. Here we go!

Adorable photos from today of my children growing up in community. There are so many people to help them, and hold their hands and be so kind and wonderful to them, even when the 3 year old spends a large amount of his day whistling at you while you work. We are very lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people!

Today was the last day of lifeguard training. Xander and Augustus have been helping the lead staff with projects around camp while the lifeguards have been busy in training. Xander can be quite bossy and is quick to jump in and offer directions or suggestions. He is a great supervisor already.

3 year old with a whistle.

The staff completed lifeguard training this afternoon! We have 8 new lifeguards (12 total at camp this summer). Xander was very excited to hand out tee shirts and whistles to all of the new lifeguards.

Day 3 of lifeguard training. The staff are doing well and will be certified soon! And the boys are having a blast with Katie and the rest of the lead staff (who are not in lifeguard training).

At mealtimes, the boys have a whole room full of people to play with- and they have the staff members wrapped around their little fingers. They always have someone to help wash their hands, fill up their cup, or put their shoes back on. And luckily for me, someone to follow Augustus around (because he gets up the minute he’s done eating and is ready to GO!).

At lunch, Xander announced that we have treats at our house. But then the lifeguards and I had to rush off to the pool for training. So at dinner, Xander turned to Jacob and said, “why didn’t you get a treat after lunch? Do you want a freezy pop?” And then he said he had an announcement. For a kid who starts out shy, once he’s comfortable, he definitely has executive level tendencies. He is a bossy little dude. He announced (into the megaphone) that we have treats and that people could come to the trailer, but that only some people could come inside and the rest could stay outside. Then he asked everyone to raise their hands if they wanted a freezy pop.

After dinner, we saw a group of staff standing at the bottom of the hill and he yelled, “come on!” We haven’t even made it to actual staff training yet, so I’m not sure if they realize that he’s not actually allowed to boss them around. Or possibly they just wanted freezy pops. But they all dutifully came to our yard, where he handed them out. And then he insisted they all come inside (it was standing room only). He causally say down on a little ledge, like he was just a dude hanging out at a party. I wanted to video tape every moment of it. I find myself wishing I could photograph every moment of every day. They are so funny and so cute and I love watching them interact with the staff. Luckily, Katie takes pictures all day long and captures some of what I miss.

2 more days of pre-camp and then 12 hour a day staff training begins. I have to enjoy these last 2 days before it gets really intense!